Chapter 9: Using Principles of Research to Discover Multiple Levels of Connection and Engagement: A Civic Engagement Audit

The goal of a civic engagement audit is to define the civic landscape of higher education. The audit reported in this study focuses on both formal and informal connections with the community to produce a process by which a university vision, mission, and educational goals statement become the measure of civic engagement. Constructs of institutional penetration of courses and baseline data provide a system that has broad implications for standardizing the measurement of civic connections. This audit breaks new ground for better reporting of the relationships between an institution of higher education and its faculty, staff, and students, and the community it serves.